I've been battling the multipeds for two months now. Last month, I got a dehumidifier and placed it in the cell. It turned it into a deadzone. Instead of being musty and dripping, the cell is now hot and dry, like a desert. The bugs (mostly pillbugs) living in there have perished as a result. Unfortunately, it still doesn't smell too good. I also applied a pesticide to the baseboards of my house and around the foundation on the outside. I don't know why, but the multipeds seem to like the floor where the wall meets it. Anyway, after putting up the defenses, I didn't see a centipede for 10 days. It was like a paradise. Then I saw one in the basement. It was distressing, but I thought to myself, "It would be silly to expect to never see one again." But then I saw another two days later. Pretty soon, their numbers had risen to a new high; I was killing one or two each night.

I must admit, I was losing hope. Even after resorting to chemical warfare, the multipeds persisted. And then my worst nightmare happened. The multipeds started showing up in my bedroom. I can deal with the stupid things in the basement because I just smash them whenever I go down there. But the thought of them crawling around on me while I'm asleep was terrifying. I adopted a routine of attempting to seal up my room and then conducting a thorough inspection before going to bed. It worked for a while, but then one night something awful happened.

That particular night, I was doing my inspection and I pulled the window blinds up. I didn't see anything, but then I felt something brush the top of my foot. I panicked and jumped away without looking down. I went back to the spot and searched, but found nothing. Then I noticed that the cord on my window blinds is really long and reaches the floor when pulled down. It felt like something was crawling on me when the cord touched my foot. I convinced myself that was what had happened and then turned around and saw a centipede. The thing shot under my bed before I could even get over to it. I shined a flashlight under the bed and even pulled the bed away from the wall, but the multiped was gone. Totally invisible. I searched for several minutes but it was hopeless. How could the thing have gotten into my room while it was sealed? And if it was in there before that, how had it escaped my inspection? I did not sleep that night.

After that incident, I knew I had to do something. I went back to Home Depot and got some sticky traps and window screen. I noticed the central air vents were wide enough to allow a multiped through, so I sealed them off with the window screen. I went through my room and checked everywhere to see where a bug could get in. I found a cable line that ran through the floor, and sealed that off as well. I barricaded the door with sticky traps and started leaving it shut during the day. During this process, I found the phantom multiped from the night before. It was behind my dresser. I demolished it. I also placed many traps in the basement by the garage and sliding doors.

Amazingly, the multipeds' numbers appear to have thinned. In the past two weeks, I've killed about three, none of them in my bedroom. Perhaps my room really is sealed off now. The sticky traps haven't caught any, but they have caught several other insects, so it's been worth it in my book. One of them even caught Andy. My current outlook is "cautiously optimistic". Things appear more hopeful, but I know that the multipeds probably could return in another wave.